Thanh Le says world title rematch against Tang Kai will show “what should have happened the first time” they fought

The Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar will have the honor of hosting ONE Championship’s maiden live event in the country, with ONE 166 taking place on March 1.

While all eyes are on the main event bout between ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder and two-division ONE world titleholder Anatoly Malykhin, the co-main event is just as exciting.

The status of undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world champion will be up for grabs as reigning world champion Tang Kai takes on interim titleholder Thanh Le.

Their first matchup in August 2022 is definitely up there among the most memorable ONE featherweight MMA world championship clashes in its history as both men poured their hearts out, with Tang eventually taking Le’s spot atop the featherweight mountain via unanimous decision.

Le is raring to have a go again at Tang and stated as much in an interview with ONE Championship:

“It was nice to get a little fight between, get a little fight knocked out in between, but I would have loved to obviously face Tang immediately after.”

---

Thanh Le fully prepped to beat Tang Kai decisively

The Vietnamese-American star is more than prepared for this rematch after pulling off a stunning heel hook submission of Ilya Freymanov just over a minute into their October 2023 matchup.

At 38 years old, many would be quick to dismiss the challenge that Le presents to the much-younger Chinese star. However, Le is of the opinion that he will be adding “a new belt to the wall” by the end of ONE 166.

ONE 166 is available live and free on Prime Video in the United States and Canada.